Our car-culture obsessive friends over at Jalopnik traveled into the bowels of FoMoCo to get some exclusive playtime with the Sync, the infotainment progeny of the Ford and Microsoft partnership.After the jump, you can view the first installment, as Ray Wert sits down with one of Ford's techy PR people for a demo and comes away more than just impressed. Once you see the video, you'll understand why, as the Sync seemed to make everything look, well, easy. Does it get any simpler than just plugging any USB equipped music player (or simple flash drive) into a port in the armrest, speaking the name of the song and then forgetting about it?
Just the fact that they got a speech recognition function to work is enough to impress, but what if you don't have your iPod isn't at, but you're Bluetooth phone can stream music? Even simpler. The system integrates with the phone and, as long as you have Microsoft Windows Media Player and an internet connection, you can stream whatever you like: music, talk radio, our podcasts and whatever else you can find online.
We're waiting to get our turn to play with it, but in the meantime, follow the jump for vid.
[Source: Jalopnik]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
John P. @ Jan 8th 2007 11:44AM
This is great stuff, should be standard on all Fords, with no price increase. Maybe Ford should do like Apple and do some kind of online/content integration. I think that would be REALLY nice. Sort of like a souped up On-Star thing.
swburks @ Jan 8th 2007 11:51AM
http://www.automobilemag.com/auto_sh...r_evolution_x/
off topic EVO X pics are up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
infinihertz @ Jan 8th 2007 1:00PM
http://www.syncmyride.com has other video and info, for those interested.
Josh Wardell @ Jan 8th 2007 1:33PM
Brilliant. Great job, ford.
JUst make it some how plug-in updatable so people can develop support for other devices as well as new apps, and it will take off.
The only downside is it is windows based--I hope there is some program manager that lets you quit these when they freeze and crash.
CJ @ Jan 8th 2007 4:13PM
Would be nice to be able to sync wirelessly with your home network when you park. Could sync travel info/mileage, music when parked.... or be able to upload new music and travel info for a trip before you leave. But then again, grabbing my iPod and some maps is probably easier.
Jon @ Jan 8th 2007 5:36PM
This system is excellent and exactly what I'd love to have in my next car. Too bad that I wouldn't be caught dead in a Ford, though.
STFU @ Jan 8th 2007 6:12PM
#6...I guess your shit outta luck then.
Nice feature, especially since it'll be available from Lincolns on down to the Focus.
carnut @ Jan 8th 2007 7:02PM
WTF? Why would I want MS's junk anywhere near my car. I don't use or recommend their stuff on the desktop. I sure don't want to see their dominance extend to the auto space.
Which is why I won't be buying a Ford or any other mfg's car with this technology in it. MS free is the only way to be.
Chris @ Jan 9th 2007 4:48PM
This is one of those little innovative ideas that Ford has lacked over the past few years. Not all changes need to be cosmetic or powertrain oriented, a good idea works just as well.
Dustin @ Jan 10th 2007 12:36AM
For someone who has no love for MS, I'll be the first to say that I've been very happy using this product. The Windows platform that they are developing for ford is a CE derivative that's very close to what's on smartphones. The code is very small, fast, and stable. A 400 MHz processor and 256 mb of mem is plenty of power.
I've been using windows mobile with speech recognition for years now, and it's very adequate for the purposes of what they're trying to do. While there are head units that have the functionality of choosing tracks, artists, and playlists from PMPs, voice recognition is going to be the sought-after feature. I've got a friend with an alpine head that controls his 80G ipod, and it's a pain in the ass to scroll through a hundred artists with little "next" buttons to find what you want. Congrats, ford and ms. Count me in.
If you can't admit that this is a killer app for automotive, then it's your own arrogance that will keep you on the other side of the fence looking at our green grass.
tpp @ Jan 11th 2007 10:36AM
#5, the device has no storage, from what I can understand, so you wouldn't be able to sync with digital content stored at your home anyway.
Todd @ Jan 13th 2007 1:49PM
Awesome! The 2008 Focus will have the SYNC.
http://www.fordvehicles.com/Cars/2008focus/